


Dumb Birthday Traditions

by StephirothWasTaken



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Birthday Fluff, Birthday Presents, Brotherhood: Final Fantasy XV Spoilers, Brotherly Love, Canon Compliant, Chapter 11 spoilers, Child Ignis Scientia, Child Noctis Lucis Caelum, Episode Ignis Spoilers, Fluff, Gen, Noct has a dumb birthday tradition, ignis's birthday, the author is terrible about coming up with titles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-03
Updated: 2019-02-07
Packaged: 2019-10-21 21:24:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17650133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StephirothWasTaken/pseuds/StephirothWasTaken
Summary: Noctis always celebrates Ignis's birthday until the day that he can't.





	1. Heavenly Fire

**Author's Note:**

> Ignis's birthday is on February 7th. I thought it would be a good excuse to write Ignis and Noctis as adorable babies.
> 
> I'll be posting every day until the 7th.

Ignis was certain that birthdays were meant to be a special day for the one whose birthday it was, but the Crown Prince Noctis was only four, an age when one could be quite selfish. He should have been annoyed with the younger boy for abusing his position to make sure that Ignis was with him at the Citadel instead of the Children’s Museum, where his parents had promised to take him, but he just felt flattered that a boy who could order to have anyone at his side had chosen him.  
  
Besides, it was funny to watch the prince run into the room carrying a box that was about as large as he was.  
  
Noctis had stumbled out of his bedroom with it. His arms could fit around it, and it was difficult for him to see around it as he made his way back to Ignis.  
  
Ignis sat on the sofa, feet dangling off it and hands clasped in his lap, and he pressed his lips together to hold back giggles.  
  
Noctis set the present on the coffee table, where one other present, a flat one that was clearly a book, was already waiting for him. All of them were neatly wrapped gifts, black paper professionally folded and taped over the boxes, and a gold ribbon had been placed on top of each of them.  
  
“I picked this one,” Noctis said, pointing at the large present.  
  
“You didn't have to get me anything, Your Highness,” Ignis said.  
  
The little prince frowned at him.  
  
“But it's your birthday.”  
  
Ignis thought it better to just open the present instead of explaining he had merely been trying to be polite. He hopped off the sofa. The first thing he did was pull off the ribbons, which Noctis promptly grabbed and stuck on Ignis’s head.  
  
Noctis giggled at his own antics, but Ignis stared at the part of it that dangled over his eye, mouth agape in horror as he realized that it was going to be painful to get it out.  
  
“Open it, Ignis!” Noctis commanded, bouncing on the balls of his feet. “Come on! Open it!”  
  
Ignis sighed. He adjusted his glasses, and he cleared his throat.  
  
“Forgive me, Your Highness.”  
  
Ignis tore off the paper, revealing a box that read, “Steiff Toy Company’s Limited Edition White Chocobo.” He turned the box around until he found the plastic window that allowed him to see the plushie inside. It was indeed white, and it was a big blob of fluff, just like a baby chocobo. The eyes were big black orbs over an orange beak.  
  
In the bottom corner of the box, he noticed that it said “handmade” and that only 300 of them had been made. This one was the 114th made.  
  
“Do you like it?” Noctis asked.  
  
“Oh, it's lovely! Thank you, Noctis!”  
  
Ignis turned to Noctis, whose face had turned red. He clutched at the hem of his shirt.  
  
“I reminded me of you because you're always wearing white.”  
  
Ignis glanced down at himself. He was wearing a white button-up shirt and khaki pants. It was less his choice to dress that way than his mother’s, but Noctis had a point.  
  
“Oh, I got one, too!”  
  
Noctis rushed back into his bedroom, and when he re-emerged he was carrying a plushie that looked just like Ignis’s, except it was black. He nearly tripped over his feet as he rushed back to the table, and he plopped it next to the box. There was a beaming smile on his face as he looked at the two plushies.  
  
“They can be best friends just like we are,” Noctis said.  
  
Ignis felt a warmth bloom in his chest. Noctis had never called him his “best friend” before, but he had to admit that it felt right. They spent a great deal of time together, after all.  
  
“Thank you, Your Highness.”  
  
Noctis frowned at that. Ignis was uncertain why, but before he could ask about it, the prince turned back to the chocobo plushies on the table.  
  
“What are you going to name him?” Noctis said, and he reached for Ignis’s boxed chocobo. “Mine’s Midnight.”  
  
“An appropriate name for a black chocobo.”  
  
Noctis only shrugged his slight shoulders. He pushed the plushie closer to Ignis.  
  
Ignis cleared his throat, and he adjusted his glasses before he took the offered box from Noctis.  
  
“What would you suggest, Your Highness?” he asked. “I’ve never named anything before.”  
  
The little prince hummed as he thought about it.  
  
“How about Heavenly Fire?”  
  
“Heavenly Fire?”  
  
“Yeah, your name means ‘fire,’ and he’s white, just like clouds.”  
  
Ignis smiled, and he nodded.  
  
“I like it.”  
  
“Good. Now open it so our chobos can play together.”  
  
“Of course, Your Highness.”  
  
It was not until his uncle came to retrieve him from Noctis’s rooms that Ignis remembered that there was a second present waiting for him. He and Noctis had been playing, and the present had gone forgotten. It turned out to be a book of animals throughout Eos. While he thought it was a nice, useful gift, it went forgotten on his bookshelf as he came home and searched for a safe place for his new chocobo plushie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've finally been able to play the game for myself, and I was very adamant about Ignis getting his white chocobo.
> 
> Also, Steiff is a real toy company that’s been around for a long time. Some of their stuff is really expensive. They have a Pooh Bear that’s $1,295, for example.
> 
> Please, let me know what you think! Comments, whether praise or criticism, likes, and subscriptions are all appreciated. Thank you for reading!
> 
> Come yell at me on social media!  
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/StephRitaClark)  
> [tumblr](https://stephanieritaclark.tumblr.com)  
> [Pillowfort.io](https://www.pillowfort.io/StephanieRitaClark)  
> [My own website](https://www.stephanieritaclark.com)  
> 


	2. A Notebook

It had been no surprise to see Marshall Cor Leonis, who grumbled about playing “nanny” to the little prince whenever he was out of earshot from him but bore the same sadness in his eyes as everyone else whenever they looked at him, pushing Noctis in his wheelchair down the hallway, but to see Noctis looking up at Ignis instead of the floor was amazing.  
  
Ever since Noctis had woken from his coma, caused by the marilith that had somehow breached Insomnia’s magical Wall and hurt Noctis and everyone in the boy’s company, he had been quiet and difficult to read. He slept longer than he used to, and the prince had always loved his sleep.  
  
It was the Starscourge, Ignis had overheard. The marilith had infected him and made it difficult for him to heal from his injuries.  
  
Ignis had been by his side as often as anyone would allow him to be. He would talk to Noctis. On most days, the prince would never say a word to him, and he would just lay in his bed or sit in his wheelchair and just stare at whatever was in front of him. It had only been a few times when Noctis had held out his hand to him, and he had even squeezed his hand when Ignis had taken it.  
  
Suddenly, Noctis was far more alert than he had been the last time he had seen him, and Ignis felt his eyes warm at the sight of it.  
  
“Good afternoon, Your Highness,” Ignis said, bowing. “Marshal.”  
  
“Hey, kid,” the Marshal said. “We were just looking for you.”  
  
It took a moment for Ignis to realize the man had spoken. As he marveled at the prince, his brain was too overwhelmed to take in much else. When he did recognize the words that he had spoken, he looked at the older man, eyebrows coming together.  
  
“You were looking for me?” he repeated.  
  
The Marshal nodded, and he gestured toward Noctis.  
  
“Noctis wanted to spend the day with you. Regis already had your uncle reschedule your lessons for you.”  
  
Ignis turned to the prince in the wheelchair, eyes widening again. That spark of life remained in Noctis’s face, and it brought warmth to his chest that he had not felt since Noctis had gotten hurt.  
  
“Oh” was the only thing he could think to say. All of those private lessons with some of the best tutors in Eos and even simple words were failing him at the moment.  
  
The Marshal clapped a hand on Ignis’s shoulder—much more roughly than necessary—and he chuckled.  
  
“Happy Birthday, kid.”  
  
Ignis stiffened, and he turned to the Marshal, who was already walking down the hallway, leaving Ignis alone with Noctis. He turned back to Noctis, who was now giving a proper smile.  
  
“You remembered my birthday?” Ignis said, voice sounding strange as his throat tightened. “I completely forgot.”  
  
The prince held something up to Ignis. It was a box wrapped in black paper, as was typical of all gifts from royalty, and there was a gold ribbon wrapped around the sides and sitting in a neat bow on top. Judging by the size and shape of it, the gift was a book.  
  
“H-happy birthday, Iggy,” Noctis said.  
  
The sound of the prince’s voice was so unexpected—but so welcome—that Ignis was certain he had the goofiest smile on his face.  
  
“Thank you, Noct,” Ignis said as he reached for the present. “You really didn’t have to get me anything.”  
  
“Open it, Iggy!”  
  
Ignis chuckled at his prince’s impatience. He pulled off the ribbon first, and he noticed Noctis reach for it.  
  
Every birthday since Ignis’s seventh birthday, Noctis would make sure to take the ribbon from Ignis’s present and stick it to his head--his hair, specifically. Last year, he had tried to dodge the prince, but Noctis had an advantage that Ignis did not: warping. Noctis had thrown a pencil at him and warped on top of him just to stick a ribbon on his face.  
  
Ignis would have been annoyed if he had not watched Noctis suffer for months after that marilith attack, but he was struggling to hold back tears. He handed Noctis the ribbon, and he bent forward so Noctis could place the ribbon in his hair.  
  
Once the ribbon was on, Ignis pulled away, and he found Noctis grinning from ear to ear.  
  
That look was more than Ignis could have asked for on his birthday, but after a few moments of Ignis awkwardly staring at Noctis and struggling to control his emotions, Noctis pointed at the box in Ignis’s hands.  
  
“Open it!”  
  
Ignis could only nod because there was a lump in his throat. He ripped through the paper. It was a leather-bound journal with skulls embossed onto the front cover. A black ribbon protruding from the bottom, and there was a black and gold pen in the fabric pen holder on the side.  
  
He wondered when Noctis had gotten, if he had asked someone to get something for Ignis or if he had gotten it before the marilith attack, but in the end, that was not important to Ignis.  
  
“It’s wonderful, Noct. Thank you.”  
  
Noctis smiled and nodded. Ignis returned the nod, and he stepped behind Noctis’s wheelchair. He tucked the notebook under his arm before he placed his hands on the handles of the wheelchair.  
  
“Where would you like to go, Noct?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel iffy about this one...
> 
> Please, let me know what you think! Comments, whether praise or criticism, likes, and subscriptions are all appreciated. Thank you for reading!
> 
> Come yell at me on social media!  
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/StephRitaClark)  
> [tumblr](https://stephanieritaclark.tumblr.com)  
> [Pillowfort.io](https://www.pillowfort.io/StephanieRitaClark)  
> [My own website](https://www.stephanieritaclark.com)  
> 


	3. A Skull Pendant

Ignis’s first instinct when he saw Noctis’s shoes by his door was to panic, heart-stopping when he thought something must have gotten terribly wrong if Noctis had voluntarily come to his apartment without sending him a text message.  
  
Then, the smell of smoke hit him, and he dropped everything in his hands to investigate the apartment. It was an open floor plan like most Insomnian apartments, and as soon as he left the entrance hall, he could see straight into it. There was no alarming cloud of smoke, but there were an open window and a sink full of blackened pans.  
  
Ignis blinked at the pans, and then he sighed, realizing Noctis had tried and failed to cook a dish yet again.  
  
“Oh, hey, Igs.”  
  
Noctis emerged from Ignis’s bathroom. He wore jeans and a pullover. His hands were tucked into front pockets, and his shoulders were slumped forward in his usual disinterested attitude.  
  
“I see you tried your hand at cooking again,” Ignis said.  
  
*The last time you had done that, your father’s health had worsened,” Ignis left unsaid.  
  
Noctis shrugged his shoulders. He shuffled his way toward the kitchen.  
  
“I was trying to surprise you,” he said, “but I messed it up.”  
  
“Well, you certainly did surprise me. What’s this about?”  
  
The prince’s mouth into a smirk.  
  
“You forgot again, didn’t you?”  
  
“Forgot what—”  
  
Ignis realized when he glanced at his calendar. It was February seventh.  
  
“Oh, I forgot my birthday again.”  
  
“Yeah, I was going to make food for you.”  
  
“I see.”  
  
“I just order takeout. It’s not fast food, I promise.”  
  
Ignis went to the entrance hall, and he picked up his briefcase and left his shoes by the door. He took his briefcase to the kitchen table, and he pulled out a manila folder from it. He set it on the table.  
  
“I have some notes for you to look through,” Ignis said, "not that today’s meeting was particularly fruitful.”  
  
“Right. I’ll get to that.”  
  
Ignis turned to Noctis just as the younger man placed a box on the table. It was a white box with a plastic window allowing him to see the cake inside it. According to the red letters on the top, it was a white chiffon cake, which was Ignis’s favorite. He placed a six-pack of Ebony coffee drinks next to it.  
  
“Happy birthday, Ignis.”  
  
“You didn’t have to go through all this trouble for me.”  
  
Noct sighed, rolling his eyes.  
  
“You could just accept it, you know.”  
  
Ignis chuckled. He reached for an Ebony, but then Noctis pulled out something else from the pocket of his pullover. It was a box, wrapped in the typical Lucian-wrapped paper and gold ribbon stuck to the corner of it.  
  
“I got you this, too.”  
  
Ignis’s eyebrows raised in surprise, but he reached for it. While he wanted to see what was inside the box, the ribbon outside the box was more immediately concerning. Noctis was certainly going to try to stick it into his hair. He wondered if Noctis had hidden any pens in his pockets so he could warp to get the stupid task done.  
  
Ignis looked up at Noctis, who was only frowning in that way he did whenever something was taking too long.  
  
“Are you going to open it?” he asked.  
  
“I’m trying to think up a strategy that would prevent you from sticking this to my head.”  
  
Noctis smirked at that. He dug into his pockets, and he pulled out more ribbons.  
  
“I brought extra ammo,” Noctis said as he peeled off the wax paper on the bottom of the ribbon.  
  
Ignis sighed, and he adjusted his glasses on his nose.  
  
“Oh, I certainly had not expected that.”  
  
“Are you going to give in this time?”  
  
Noctis held out the ribbon, his smirk growing wider as Ignis narrowed his eyes at him.  
  
Ignis looked at the ribbon on his present. He peeled it off.  
  
“Perhaps we could see who could get their ribbon on the other’s head first.”  
  
“Is Ignis Scientia suggesting we run inside the apartment?” Noctis gasped, pressing his free hand to his cheek. “How improper!”  
  
“Do you need a running start, Your Highness?”  
  
“It's you who needs the running start!”  
  
Noctis ran around the table to get to Ignis.  
  
Thanks to Ignis’s Crownsguard training and longer reach, Ignis managed to attach both ribbons to Noctis’s head, one on his cheek and the other on his forehead. Ignis had been courteous enough to place them on his skin, where it would be less painful to remove them than it would be on his hair.  
  
Noctis pouted as Ignis grinned at him.  
  
“It seems you have been bested this year, Noctis.”  
  
Ignis chuckled at Noctis scowl.  
  
“Just open your damn present.”  
  
“All right. All right.”  
  
Ignis grabbed his present from the table, and he opened it. A black skull pendant on a black chain sat on black velvet. He took it out of the box.  
  
“Oh, it’s lovely, Noctis. Thank you.”  
  
“You say that about every present.”  
  
“And I mean it every time. Truly, I do.”  
  
Noctis peeled off the ribbons on his cheek and forehead as he went up to Ignis. He decided not to evade his prince as he placed the ribbons on his shoulder.  
  
“I noticed you’ve kept everything that I’ve given you, even your chocobo.”  
  
“Heavenly Fire, surprisingly, may be the cheapest gift you’ve given me, yet it still cost as much as the down payment on your car.”  
  
“I’m a prince. I barely know what that means.”  
  
Ignis chuckled. He placed his new necklace back into the box, and he set it aside.  
  
“Let’s eat cake, shall we?”  
  
“I can’t turn that down.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posted this a little later than I had intended to, but at least I got it done.
> 
> Please, let me know what you think! Comments, whether praise or criticism, likes, and subscriptions are all appreciated. Thank you for reading!
> 
> Come yell at me on social media!  
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/StephRitaClark)  
> [tumblr](https://stephanieritaclark.tumblr.com)  
> [Pillowfort.io](https://www.pillowfort.io/StephanieRitaClark)  
> [My own website](https://www.stephanieritaclark.com)  
> 


	4. Visors

There was something funny about Ignis remembering his birthday the first year of Noctis being gone. For years, he had always forgotten about it, and Noctis would be there to celebrate it with him. Then, Noctis disappeared into the crystal, and suddenly Ignis remembered it.  
  
Because there was nothing distract him from it—from anything. Now that he was blind, eyes burned into uselessness after donning the Ring of the Lucii to protect his prince, there was little he could do beyond training to fight and navigate the world with his other senses. That left him with more free time than he had ever had, even as a child. He used to long for more free time, but under the circumstances, it was agonizing.  
  
Ignis had made peace with his inability to see. He was used to it now, surprisingly, even if he was not moving about the world as well as he would have liked. The scars on his face were no longer tender to the touch, but they still stung every time he tripped over an object or failed to best a Glaive in a sparring match.  
  
They stung now as he ran his fingers over the braille book that a hunter had managed to scavenge for him. Ignis was grateful for it, but reading was so much slower now than he was used to. He was getting better at it, but he thought that had more to do with him having read the book a couple of times already.  
  
Ignis sighed. There was a dull ache in the back of his skull, and he realized that he had been running his fingertips over the little bumps in the book for hours now—too many hours without any caffeine in his system to help him deal with the lack of sleep.  
  
Ignis felt for the wooden bookmark he had left on the table, and when it brushed against his fingers, he placed it inside the book, which was rather heavy at thirty pounds, before closing it. He leaned back in his chair, and he rubbed at his head to soothe his headache.  
  
Ignis remained determined to learn how to be useful to Noctis and everyone again, but every once in a while, he had days, like now, when he felt hollow, useless, broken—all things he had felt as a child but had lost as he had gained confidence in his abilities.  
  
A familiar bellowing laugh cut off Ignis’s train of thought. There was no mistaking that it was Gladiolus somewhere outside his little apartment. The large man had been spending the last few months traveling throughout Lucis to hunt the daemons that had taken over the world now that the days were getting shorter and shorter, and he had only seen him a few times since parting ways with him.  
  
Ignis considered going outside to greet him, but without knowing what his friend was doing, he thought it better to continue about his day.  
  
Of course, there was nothing for him to do, so he just sat there and waited.  
  
And waited until there was a knock on his door.  
  
Ignis leaped from his chair, and he felt along the walls until he reached the door.  
  
“Happy birthday, Iggy!”  
  
A smile spread of Ignis’s face as he heard both Gladio and Prompto’s voice.  
  
It was rare to see Gladio, but Prompto had been to see him only once twice. He preferred to stay at Hammerhead to be around Cindy Aurum, who was oblivious to his crush on her.  
  
“Gladio, Prompto, thank you,” Ignis said. “It’s been quite some time. Do you have time to stay for a bit o,r do you have other business to attend to in Lestallum?”  
“We kind of came here for you, Iggy,” Gladio said, and he snorted. “Unless you’re busy.”  
  
“No, it seems there’s not much for me to do in my current state. Come on in.”  
  
Ignis sat in a chair, and something was thrust into his hands, startling him.  
  
“Ah, we have brought you a present,” Prompto said.  
  
“Yeah, for your birthday,” Gladio added, and he sounded much closer.  
  
It figured that it would be Gladio. For a man who had shouted at a certain prince to be more considerate of their blind companion, he would sometimes forget that he could hand things to Ignis and say aloud that it was in front of him instead of just shoving it into his hands.  
  
“Oh, you didn’t have to get me anything,” Ignis said as he took the present.  
  
“It’s no trouble at all, Iggy,” Prompto said.  
  
Ignis felt the gift. It was a long box. He felt one of those ribbons stuck to the corner of it, and he immediately thought of a way to keep Noctis from sticking it to his head.  
Noctis who was not there.  
  
Ignis’s throat tightened as he realized this was the first time Noctis had missed his birthday since the day they had met.  
  
Something touched his forehead, and he heard both Gladio and Prompto chuckling. Frowning, Ignis reached up to feel his head.  
  
It was that damn ribbon.  
  
“Sorry, Igs,” Prompto said. “Noctis would have told us to do it if he had thought of it before he had left.”  
  
“That’s a tradition I could have done without,” Ignis said, but his voice was rather hoarse. “He was always sticking it in my hair, and it hurt to take it out.”  
  
“Yeah, the kid started doing that when Regis did it to him,” Gladio said. “He always tried to do to me, but he never could.”  
  
“Even with warping?” Prompto asked. “He always got me because of the warping.”  
  
“I just learned to stick them on his first,” Ignis added. “He would always walk away pouting.”  
  
The three of them chuckled.  
  
“Well, open it, Iggy,” Gladio said.  
  
Ignis was grateful that it was not a wrapped gift but just a box with a lid. He opened it, and he felt inside it.  
  
“Sunglasses?” Ignis said.  
  
“They’re visors,” Prompto said. “We thought it would be easier for you to fight with those than the sunglasses we had gotten you after Altissia.”  
  
“Ah, thank you,” Ignis said as he placed them on his face. “That’s very kind of you.”  
  
“Yeah, but that’s not everything. We found some cans of Ebony for you.”  
  
A warmth filled the void in his chest. Without Noctis, Ignis still felt as if something was missing within himself, but these two had made it better. He had not even expected them to do this for him with the world going to ruins around them.  
  
“Thank you,” Ignis said, but the words felt lame.  
  
It was not quite enough to express how he was feeling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Suddenly the ADHD made it hard for me to get this up at a reasonable time.
> 
> Update March 13: This used to have five chapters, but I decided to delete the last one because I rushed through it and did a poor job on it and because I just felt it didn't fit with these other chapters.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> Come yell at me on social media!  
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/StephRitaClark)  
> [tumblr](https://stephanieritaclark.tumblr.com)  
> [Pillowfort.io](https://www.pillowfort.io/StephanieRitaClark)  
> [My own website](https://www.stephanieritaclark.com)  
> 


End file.
